What is the best treatment for poison ivy?
After a day of outdoor fun in the woods or shaping up your kitchen garden or flower bed, you may encounter poison ivy plant. You may fail to identify the rash but the irritation and streak marks on the skin are unmistakable. The rash may gradually develop into painful blisters or hives that may ooze some fluid that is clear. This rash comes from exposing the skin to the poison ivy plant, both home and drugstore remedies work effectively towards relieving the itchiness and drying up the blisters. The rash could last up to 3 weeks depending on the severity of the allergy and the care taken to treat it.
You should consider home treatment in case the rash appears only in a small section of the skin also if you are certain that the rash has been caused by poison ivy, if you are not sure then contact a dermatologist as it could be as a result of something else. Start by following the following steps to obtain fast relief from the pain caused by itching.
Rinse the affected area immediately with cool running water after contact with poison ivy. This should help get rid of some of the oil on the skin
Wash all the clothes that may have come into contact with the plant mad tools. The oil can stick on the clothes, pet fur  or any farm  tools therefore they should be rinsed out properly to prevent them from getting into contact with the skin to prevent occurrence of another rash.
Rubbing alcohol on the skin that has the rash helps dry up the blisters. You need the following rubbing alcohol, clean cotton swabs, gauze and medicated baby powder. Clean up the affected area with clean water and using a towel dab the area dry then spread rubbing alcohol over the area. Finally sprinkle the medicated baby powder to create a kind of paste. Repeat this procedure until all the affected areas are covered then cover with a gauze. This should dry in a few days 
Use vinegar and vodka instead of rubbing alcohol to neutralize the urushiol on the skin. Apply it directly to the affected area immediately after getting into contact with poison ivy. Alcohol washes away the urushol oil which is the allergen that causes the skin to itch.
Coffee can be used in case you do not have access to alcohol. A cup of cold coffee is a traditional way of curing poison ivy. Coffee contains chromogenic acid that serves as an anti-inflammatory treatment to sooth the irritation and prevent further development of blisters. Poison ivy should be given immediate attention to try and get rid of as much urushiol oil in the skin as possible.
Donts
* Do not apply any anti histamine on the affected areas this could worsen the rash and itching of the skin.
* Do not use any hydrocortisone cream or lotion because they are meant to act on very mild cases of skin irritation.



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